Chuck Vs DecadeOfDeception
by tshdow
Summary: Sarah makes an error in Judgment, causing tragic events.
1. Deception

_**Author's note: **_I wrote this story to the music "Don't give UP" by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. _This was done quickly and will probably need a rewrite_. If you want to fix it up, be my guest. ) This is also my small attempt at the challenge that GCG and BR are engaged in.

_**BTW, most of the Chuck fanfic authors are at Fanfiction:**____**/forum/TWoPKickedUsOutButWeStillLoveChuck/49974/**___

_**Disclaimer**_: I don't own _Chuck_. All of the characters belong to whomever. I own the plot and theme in this story though. Enjoy it I hope! )

_**There are character deaths in this one.**_

Walking though the streets, I look at the people a bit differently. Most of the people are trying hard to get whatever they can to make their life better.

I see people begging, hustling, plotting to get ahead. It was not long ago that I would have passed them by without a second thought.

Now things have changed. I am one of these people for now. I was not prepared to be where I am now.

The Fates have dealt me another blow. Did I do something bad in a previous life? Was it so bad to try and be a good guy? Maybe it is all a test for something later in life.

Hell, I don't know but it sure has not been my decade. There have been so many ups and downs in my life in the last seven years, where did I go so wrong.

There was my Father and Mother, as if leaving Elle and I were not bad enough to begin with. After fighting back to get into Stanford, only to be kicked out by my supposed friend Bryce.

Sure, I ignored Jill's calls when I came back to LA. I never thought that she would shack up with Bryce. Maybe She was getting back at me for locking her out of my life, but I needed to be alone for a while.

Then I get that email with all the government data. My life took a turn for the better or at least I thought it did. I meet a beautiful woman that I had no right to thing had an interest in me.

I was sure that I had gotten through her walls, but then again I have always been clueless when it came to women.

I can still cannot believe how it all played out. How a single mistake put me here in some God forsaken Hell hole.

You seen Chuck aimlessly walking over to a darken corner and sit down. Cloths are dusty and wrinkled making him look like any other bum on the streets. His facial hair had grown out in a wild mountaineer style. Dull brown eyes and worn out shoes added to his hobo look.

He looks as bad as he feels. Having not eaten all day, the fatigue is getting to him. Chuck lays his head into his hands. Trying to fight off falling asleep, but losing the battle. His eyes drooping, closing against his wishes. His face looks twisted in agony as he starts to dream.

_--_

Overlooking a mountainous range, a small figure stands deep in thought. Slumped over shoulders with unbrushed hair, clearly not the normal for such a woman of class.

Looking at her face, there is a deep frown. Deep blue eyes with dark circles under them, aging her looks to add to her unkept appearance.

The confidence that once exuded her persona was no longer there. She had always been taught to win. Losing had never been an option for her before, but her loss had taken a heavy toll on her.

Times had been good to her up till that one mission. How had things gotten so out of control. She had no winning option. She still could not get her failure out of her mind.

Even Graham had seemed to have lost his faith in her, not like he had much of a choice. She had not been able to recover from that mission.

In a single night, she had lost everything. The adopted family that she had grown to like. The man she was happiest around. The partner that had finally treated her with respect.

After that one night, she could not trust her instincts any more. When an agent has no confidence in themselves, it was time to change jobs.

The problem was that she did not feel she had any other skills. There was no other job for her.

If it had not been for Casey, Sarah would have died on her latest mission. It was evident that she did not care if she lived or died. Casey was not about to stick around and watch her die.

She still received calls from Casey to check up on her. Ignoring how she had lost her way. There was no fight left in her these days.

Thinking about how she had changed her name to Lindsey, for a fresh start. Even changed her hair color to brown, but nothing seemed to make her feel different.

Moved on to several different locations, none seemed to be the right one. It's never been easy, but now there is no place where Sarah feels she belongs.

Lindsey/Sarah moves to the bed in the room. Feeling completely exhausted for no reason, she closes her eyes; knowing that when she did her nightmare would start all over again.

Slowly she drifts off to sleep, only to release the tears that she has refused to shed while awake. Not knowing if there is ever going to be a place where she belongs again.

--

Turning back the clock 6 months ago, back to the fateful day. To the beginning of the horrible mission that destroyed many peoples lives. The day Team Bartowski became no more.

It was a sunny day in LA, when Chuck was at the Burbank Town Center. He had been driving up Highway 5 to go to the IKEA store there.

He was looking for some items for his room, when he spotted a man with a unique tattoo. Instantly flashing on the man, it revealed that Lloyd was an FBI ten most wanted person for murder.

Calling Sarah, he explained the situation as he was tailing him. Sarah had told him to stop tailing the suspect, but in his usual Chuck fashion, ignored her.

Things would have been so much different, if he had just listened. Within fifteen minutes, Lloyd had realized that Chuck was following him.

It was easy for Lloyd to lose Chuck in the store, but he did not leave. Instead he was now the one stalking Chuck.

Disappointed in himself, Chuck got the items he was looking for and headed back to the Nerd herder. Still unaware that he was being followed, he drove straight back to his apartment.

Lloyd had followed him back and watched which apartment Chuck entered. He would be back to take care of this nosy person.

With a smile on his face, Lloyd drove his Harley back home. Making a few phone calls, the fates had stepped in again to bring tragedy to Chucks life.

That night Chuck, Elle and Devon were to go out to dinner. They had decided to go to D'Antonio's Restaurant in Diamond Bar. It was a bit of a drive, but the Italian food was worth the drive.

Sarah was running errands and would have to meet them there. It was her way of driving there by herself.

She did not want Chuck or Casey know that she was meeting Bryce. He had called Sarah and she still could not turn him down. Not wanting to hurt Chuck, she thought it would be better to just be late.

Chuck, Elle and Devon arrived at the restaurant at around 6 pm. Their reservation was not until 6:30 pm, so they went to the bar for a few drinks.

As they were ordering drinks, they could hear a few motorcycles pulling into the parking lot. Not really paying it much attention, Chuck looks down at his watch wondering what is taking Sarah so long. Was she stuck in the traffic on Highway 60? He wanted to call, but felt a bit foolish; she was more than capable of taking care of herself.

As Chuck was looking at his watch, Sarah was at Bryce's hotel room. She felt that since it was only about 10 miles away, she had plenty of time.

Bryce had poured her a glass of white wine, as they sat on the couch. Talking about the past, the time seemed to escaped Sarah's notice. It was already 6:30pm and she should have been at the restaurant by now.

As the waiter motioned for Chuck that his table was ready, he reached into his pocket for his iphone. He was starting to get worried about Sarah, since she was rarely this late.

Elle, Devon sat down at the table, but Chuck could not get reception on his iphone. He decided to go outside to get better reception.

Opening the door, Chuck stepped outside and turned to his left. Taking only two steps, he was blocked by someone.

Without looking up, Chuck tried to walk around the man. When he move to the right, so did the man. Then he tried to move to the left and again the man stepped in front of him. Chuck hit send on his iphone and it started to ring Sarah.

Frustrated that he could not get around the man, Chuck looked up as the phone was still ringing.

Without warning, Chuck was struck in the face by the mans fist! Chuck bounced hard on the ground before he could even move.

Stunned from the attack, Chuck looked up at the man and realized that it was Lloyd. His eyes flew wide open, not knowing what to do. His iphone had slipped from his grasp and he had no idea where it had landed.

Without knowing what to do, he tried to turn and run back to the restaurant. Lloyd grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and yanked him backwards.

Chuck landed hard into the concrete barrier behind him, cracking two of his ribs. Lloyd and a few of his biker crew started kicking and punching Chuck as he lay there helpless.

Unaware of what was going on, Sarah finally picked up her cell phone. She saw the picture of Chuck, realizing that she was very late.

Taking her time trying to decide to answer it, she finally answered on the eight ring. Sarah only answered it because Chuck usually hung up by the fifth ring.

Placing the cell phone to her ear, Sarah spoke into the phone before waiting to hear Chucks voice.

"Chuck, sorry my errand is taking me longer than I expected", waiting for his reply. Instead of hearing Chucks voice she could hear angry voices and someone yelling,"Please STOP!!"

At first she could not make out what was happening. Like a bolt of lighting, Sarah placed that it was Chucks voice yelling for help.

Running out of the hotel room, she felt guilty that she was not there. She had told him to go ahead, so that she could meet Bryce. Now Chuck was in trouble and she was ten miles away, in LA traffic.

As Sarah was trying to rush to Chuck, Elle was wondering why Chuck was taking so long.

Elle got up from the table, where she was eating bread that had been placed on the table. She walked to the door, where she immediately saw Chuck being beat on.

Running out of the door yelling at them to stop, Devon came running after her. As Elle reached the men beating on Chuck, she jumped on the nearest man's back.

Devon was but a few steps behind her and hit the nearest man he came to. The punch was so solid that the man dropped like he had been shot.

Chuck was in no shape to help, but he was trying to kick and throw what punches he could from the ground. He was terrified that something bad had happened to Sarah, why else would she not be here to help him.

There were just too many of them, soon they had Devon surrounded. Two of them were holding Elle; one striking her hard in the face.

Devon had seen the man strike Elle and charged him. As Devon was beating on the man, he did not notice another man advancing on him with a knife.

Still fighting for their life, suddenly Chuck heard Elle scream,"NOOO!!" He could hardly see, due to all of the blood in his eyes from all of the cuts to his face.

Managing to turn towards Elle, he could do nothing as Devon laid there in a pool of blood! Crawling towards Elle, the last thing he remembered was being hit hard in the head. Everything went black and Chuck lay still on the ground.

Sirens could be heard in the distance, causing the men to jump on their bikes and head out of there. Leaving Elle crying on the ground, holding Devon in her hands; switching her gaze between him and Chuck.

--

As Sarah pulled up to the restaurant, she could see police talking to Elle. She didn't seen Chuck or Devon anywhere.

Rushing to Elle, Sarah asked,"Where is Chuck? What happened here?"

Through her tears, Elle replied,"It was horrible Sarah! Some men were beating on Chuck and Devon and I tried to help! There were too many of them." Not able to talk anymore, Elle embraced Sarah and cried.

"Elle! Is Chuck Okay? Where did they take him?"

"I don't know if he is Okay! They killed Devon Sarah. They stabbed him in while he was trying to save Chuck and me." Elle just kept repeating the last sentence over and over again.

Elle was in shock and Sarah was trying to console her. Sarah needed to find out where they had taken Chuck still. It took her a few minutes to get the information from one of the police officers.

She put Elle in her car and drove them to Whittier Hospital Medical Center. It took them more than twenty minutes to find out where Chuck was.

He was in surgery and was not expected to make it. After six hours of surgery, the doctor came out and let them know that he had a sixty percent chance of survival. If Chuck made it through the night, his chances would greatly improve.

It took Chuck six days before he recovered conscience from his wounds. The first thing he asked Elle upon awaking was, "How is Devon?"

"He died Chuck. He was buried two days ago, while you were still unconscious. I am sorry Chuck.", Elle told him.

Tears were flowing down Elle's cheeks, as Chuck tried to hold her hand. They both cried for quite some time before they could stop.

Sarah was watching from outside of the door. Guilt from her not being there was tearing her up inside. She was supposed to protect him, but instead she was with Bryce when he really needed her!

Sarah had failed Chuck! She and failed to protect him and Devon died because of it. Her feelings had cause her to slip. She had never failed so completely before.

How could she face Chuck and Elle now. She would wait till he fell back asleep before she would go into see him.

--

Elle had finally left to go home. She was completely exhausted from the funeral and staying at Chucks side all this time.

Sarah was looking into Chucks room. She was pretty sure he was asleep, so she ventured into the room . It was at this time that Casey had come to see her and he was furious!

Casey walked straight up to her, but before speaking, he checked to see if Chuck was awake. Seeing the morphine pumping into Chuck's system, he was sure he would stay asleep.

Turning to Sarah, his eyes were ablaze. "He was your responsibility, where were you Walker!"

"I was running an errand and was running late." Dropping her eyes to the ground as she answered.

"Did that errand have to do with Bryce! Did you not think I would find out! So much for your feelings for Chuck. I guess you were playing him for a mark this entire time after all?"

"Don't you dare accuse me of not feeling for Chuck. I had no idea this would happen. I just stopped by as Bryce had requested." Sarah said seething.

"I guess it being there for over an hour is a quick errand? You still have feelings for Bryce and you let it effect your job! Now Chuck is lying in the hospital and Elle had to bury Devon. I hope your happy with yourself. I am not going to be the one to tell Chuck. But you had better tell him, before he finds out some other way, Agent Walker."

From out of nowhere, they hear a voice. "I already heard what you two said. How could you betray me like that Sarah? Not only did you lead me on, you got Devon killed while you played house with Bryce!", Chuck shouted. "Get OUT! Both of you just GET OUT and leave me alone!"

Turning to his side, Chuck closed his eyes as tears flooded down his cheeks.

Both Casey and Sarah left the room. Casey stopped just down the hallway, not going any farther.

"You need to figure out what you plan on doing now Walker! I will stay here and guard Chuck till he is well enough to get out of the Hospital. I would not show my face for quite some time, including Elle."

Sarah felt like something had died inside of her. She had made one small error in her judgement and everything is gone now.

She turned and walked out of the hospital. Upon reaching her room, she pulled out all the alcohol she could find. Starting with the hard liquor, Sarah drank until she could not remember passing out.

For the next several weeks, Sarah continued to drink as Chuck laid in the Hospital. Not knowing what may come when he got out of the hospital.

After being passed out for several hours, Sarah woke up to the feel of cold water splashing on her face.

Casey was standing over her, daring her to say anything. He knew that she had fallen apart over the entire incident, but was still having trouble forgiving her. Still, she was a good agent and he did feel sorry for her.

After cleaning her up, Casey let her know that Chuck was home from the Hospital. She was trembling from the news, not willing to move.

Casey and Sarah talked for some time before he had left her alone in the apartment. It was up to her to try and salvage anything out of this mess.

Chuck was lying in his bed when his iphone started to ring. He looked at the caller ID and saw it was

Sarah.

He opened the phone and said, "Sarah, I cannot talk to you yet. Please leave me alone for now!" Hanging up the phone before she could answer.

Chuck just looked up at the ceiling, but there was no tears this time. He was out of them and maybe, just maybe he was over Sarah as well.

Sarah put the cell phone down. It had taken ever ounce of courage she had to make that call. He had simply told her to leave him alone. What little hope she had was crushed in that one sentence.

She picked up the bottle next to her and started drinking. He hated her and he had good reason to. It is so strange how a simple error in judgement could get some messed up. Yea, relationships are not something she has ever been good at.

"I have got to get out of here, there is nothing left now. That river has flowed on. All my dreams have deserted me now.", Sarah is thinking to herself.

The last thing that she remembered that night, were Casey's last words to her. He had said,"Don't give up." But that is exactly what she was doing.

Times were rough for both Chuck and Sarah that night. Both would make mistakes that night that would effect their lives. There seemed to be no fight left in either one of them. Is there a place where they belong? And if there is, will they be together there?

**Notes:** If you want another chapter, please provide reviews.


	2. point of no return

_**Author's note: **_I wrote this story to the music "Don't give UP" by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. _This was done quickly and will probably need a rewrite_. If you want to fix it up, be my guest. ) This is also my small attempt at the challenge that GCG and BR are engaged in.

Special thanks to GCG for going through the pain of another Beta. )

_**BTW, most of the Chuck fanfic authors are at Fanfiction:**____**/forum/TWoPKickedUsOutButWeStillLoveChuck/49974/**___

_**Disclaimer**_: I don't own _Chuck_. All of the characters belong to whomever. I own the plot and theme in this story though. Enjoy it I hope! )

--

Sometime later that night Sarah found herself in downtown LA. Not knowing how she got there, her mind was still reeling from the drink.

Looking around, she realized that across the street was about ten Harley motorcycles. One in particular caught her eye.

It was the bike belonging to Lloyd from the documents the CIA had sent her.

Now that she was leaving, there was one last thing she had to do. She was going to take this punk out for hurting Elle and Chuck!

He was the one and only true mission she had failed. Hatred replaced the pity that she had been feeling for herself. A rage so deep and complete came over her making her entire body shake.

Knowing that she may not come out of this one alive, she placed a call to Casey.

"What Agent Walker? Finally wake up from your stupor," Casey said with a bit of acid in his voice. He was still angry that she let herself fall this far.

Casey knew that she was a good agent and hated to see one fail like Walker. He knew that if she could just pull herself together, she could still clear this mess up.

"Casey, I just wanted to say that it was an honor to be your partner. I hope one day we will meet again under better circumstances," stated Sarah firmly, before she hang up the phone.

The click of the dial tone in Casey's ear was deafening to his senses. It screamed that she was going to do something stupid or dangerous or both!

He knew that she about to do something that could either get her killed or cause her to be reassigned. Either one would be bad for the team.

Casey immediately started tracking her cell phone, as he ran out the door and jumped into his car! He hoped that he would not be to late.

Sarah threw her phone into her car. She then went to the trunk and started arming herself.

Lloyd usually ran with fifteen or so men. Based upon the number of bikes parked in front out front of the bar. Sarah expected all fifteen to be present. That did not count those that may come to Lloyd's assistance once the fireworks started.

But it didn't matter. Anyone that was between her and Lloyd was an enemy in Sarah's mind. Hell has plenty of room for those that get in her way she thought.

She reasoned that she would join them soon enough. After all, she didn't deserve anything better considering all of the bad things she had done in her life as a CIA Agent.

There was no remorse left in her and no fear of dying. She was a cold blooded killer on a mission to make Lloyd suffer before he died.

Placing her Kevlar vest on, she attached flash bombs and assorted weaponry on her body.

Still feeling the effect of all of the alcohol she had drank earlier, Sarah walked into the bar and to the right corner to access the room. Hiding till she could get an assessment of the interior of the bar.

Spotting her target a cold numbness came over her body. There would be no remorse for Lloyd and his minions. Sarah imagined that she could feel Death's hand guiding her into action; like the grim reaper was joining in on the fun.

Moving with purpose, she pulled out her pistol and shot Lloyd in the upper chest.

Her aim was off, as he slammed against the wall from the force of the bullet. His eyes wide open from the surprise attack, he yelled out for his companions to help.

The entire bar was in motion, with some people ducking for cover and others rushing to Lloyd's aid. The crowd not ducking for cover reached for their guns intent on the unknown shooter.

The atmosphere sounded like a war zone, with bullets whizzing everywhere! Lloyd's men were shooting wildly, not really knowing who the target was yet.

Now that Sarah had drawn out the additional threats, she started picking them off.

She dispatched the first three men near the bar, while she continued to fire shots at Lloyd to keep him pinned down. She tossed a flash bomb in the middle of the room to temporary blind the remaining men in the bar.

She closed her eyes and took cover behind a beam as the flash bomb went off. After the flash, she stepped to her left and fired several times taking out another four. She then ducked and rolled to her right ending up behind an overturned table.

Using the table for cover, she threw a knife into the neck of the gun toting man nearest Lloyd. While there were still several men left, Sarah was tired of waiting.

Slamming new clip into her pistol she exited from behind the table and started killing anyone with a gun that was close to Lloyd.

As she neared him, Sarah suddenly felt a distant twinge of pain. It barely registered that she had been shot in her current frame of mind.

Sarah took another few steps and causing several bad guys to move from their crouched position to her left. Sarah quickly pointed her gun and took down another two men.

Now within spitting distance of Lloyd, a third bullet hit Sarah in the shoulder. Letting out a scream from the pain, she looked in the direction that the projectile had come from.

A man with a .357 Magnum was about to pull the trigger again. This time he was aiming directly at her head. She let out a small sigh as she realized that she was going to fail her mission. She braced herself for the final shot. It never came.

In the blink of an eye, the man was dead on the floor.

Sarah looked around the bar trying to see who had killed the man.

"What? You didn't want to invite me to the party Walker?" asked Casey from the doorway of the bar. She watched as Casey strode into the bar with a smirk on his face. She knew he always loved gunplay.

Sarah turned back to Lloyd and noticed that he was trying to crawl away. She raised her gun and shot him in the back of both knees.

Screaming in agony, Lloyd is flaying around on the floor. "What do you want from me? I didn't do anything to you!"

"You took away my friend's intended husband! You tried to kill the man I love! You took away the life I could have had! Now I am going to take away a few things from you."

Carefully raising her weapon Sarah shot LLoyd in the right and left elbows. She watched as he screamed for mercy. She grimaced but did not reconsider.

Sarah shot Lloyd in the groin, knowing that he would bleed out before anyone could save him.

"You messed with the wrong family! Now you can spend what little time you have left thinking about where you will be going next. If you don't know ... it's straight to Hell," seethed Sarah as she turned away from the dying man.

She turned and walked out of the door and to her car. Casey followed closely behind her.

"You need a doctor to look after those wounds. I will drive you to the hospital"

"I can do it myself Casey. Thanks for covering my back. But I think we both know that this is the end for us. It is time I left, so that Chuck can move on."

"Don't be stupid Walker! He just needs some time. But if you leave, I don't know if he will be able to handle it."

"I can't stay John. I will try and check in to see how he is doing from time to time. Tell him that I am sorry and that I wish I could take back everything. I will miss you both." She willed Casey to understand.

"I will tell him Sarah. I expect to hear from you. When you are ready to come back, I will be here for you."

She got in her car and closed the door. Sitting there for a few seconds, she glanced up one last time before she started the car and drove off.

Casey watched as she left, hoping that she would be alright. He knew that this would destroy whatever possibility that she and Chuck had for a future together.

There was no going back for the team.


	3. Daylight broke

_**Author's note: **_I wrote this story to the music "Don't give UP" by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. _This was done quickly and will probably need a rewrite_. If you want to fix it up, be my guest. )

_**BTW, most of the Chuck fanfic authors are at Fanfiction:**____**/forum/TWoPKickedUsOutButWeStillLoveChuck/49974/**___

_**Disclaimer**_: I don't own _Chuck_. All of the characters belong to whomever. I own the plot and theme in this story though. Enjoy it I hope! )

--

Casey went back to his apartment to try and determine what the best course of action to take may be.

He knew that both Sarah and Chuck were meant to be together, but how could he get them to realize it now.

Pulling open the cabinet door, he started looking for the right bottle for the job. This was not just some run of the mill problem. It called for something serious.

After rummaging though several bottles, Casey spotted the right alcohol for this problem.

Reaching towards the back of the cabinet, he pulls out a dusty bottle with an eagle on it. There it was, the prized Eagles Rare 20year old Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey!

Unscrewing the top, Casey poured himself a glass and took a drink. It was so smooth but distinct. Thinking, _now this is what Whiskey should taste like_!

Flopping into his recliner, he placed the bottle and glass on the table to his right. There was no denying it, this was a total Cluster frack!

Several hours later, Casey came to a conclusion. He would wait till Chuck realized that Sarah had left before he would say anything.

This way Chuck would get over his screwed up understanding of the situation before He would have to dump Sarah had left onto his shoulders.

It was Chuck's fault Sarah had left in the first place. Sure it was her job to protect him, but there was more to it than that.

Casey knew that Chuck was not thinking straight. More people than Devon could have gotten killed!

Unhappy with having to wait, but knowing there was no other choice, Casey laid back in the recliner and continued to drink.

Now Casey was the only one left to protect Chuck. He knew there was very little chance of anything happening.

Casey decided to do something that he had not done in twenty years. He intentionally got drunk, knowing that it was not the right thing to do.

He put himself ahead of his mission. Casey knew that he was about to be put in purgatory. He had just lost a good partner, has to deal with a broken asset and will have to find a way to get two friends back together.

The last just may put him in a grave. Casey had thought that he could not be effected by anything. It is strange how things have turned out.

--

It has been 3 months now, since that fateful night. The night Lloyd had broken the Bartowski family.

Elle had been putting most of her time into her work. She was distant and cold, even to Chuck.

She did not like to talk and usually went to her room ,once she got home from work. Elle no longer cooked, unless it was absolutely necessary.

Chuck had broached the subject of them moving to another place, but Elle almost ripped his head off. The apartment was where she felt closest to Devon.

It had been almost a month before Chuck had flashed on someone. It was only a low level drug dealer.

He went to Casey and told him about the flash. They went into the TV conference room and Casey started contacting Beckman.

"Casey, don't you think you should contact Sarah first?" Chuck asked.

"No, there is no need to contact her," Casey answered casually.

The meeting did not take long and Beckman was the only one on the conference. It was decided that they would report this to the local police, as the suspect was a small player in the drug trade.

As the screen went black, Casey could see Chuck studying him from the corner of his eye. He knew that Chuck was about to ask him the _question_ and it was about dam time!

"Casey, why did you not contact Sarah? You know she will be pissed when she finds out."

"No Chuck, she will not care any more. Sarah has been gone for a month now." Casey said it as if he were ordering a sandwich.

Jaw wide open, Chuck was in shock! How could she have just left without saying a word to him. Just like her to screw him over again!

"Sarah didn't want to be here anyway! I should have known that she would just up and leave. Not like she really cared. I am sure Sarah is happy with her new assignment and it is probably with Bryce!"

"Well, obviously you did not care either Chuck! You didn't even notice that she has been gone for over a month. You've been too busy thinking about yourself and how you were hurt. And no, Sarah has not been seen by anyone since she left. Not even by the CIA."

"What do you mean not even the CIA? She is probably under deep cover with Bryce. I am sure that they will surface when they want. After all, that is what they are good at, disappearing."

"I thought you were supposed to be smart! She is gone, disappeared right after she killed Lloyd. The CIA is looking for her as well, but not very hard since she fell apart."

Casey knew that if Chuck cared for her at all anymore, that piece of information would pull it out of him.

As he watched Chuck, he could see the realization take full effect on him. Chuck was dumbstruck with the knowledge that Sarah had left and not just for a reassignment.

Casey was amazed that it had taken Chuck this long to figure it out. He watched as Chuck collapsed onto the couch and put his head into his hands.

All of the past hurt, anger, hatred, loss hit Chuck at one time. He just sat there crying into his hands, rocking back and forth for almost an hour.

Casey had walked out of the room and locked the door. He did not want anyone to disturb Chuck; needing to get this out of his system.

Finally, the door opened and Chuck walked out and straight to Big Mike's office. Thirty minutes later, He came back out and left the Buy More.

Casey followed him, noting that Chuck had called a cab to take him home. He had left the Nerd Herder in the parking lot.

It was later that night when Elle came home and Chuck was waiting for her on the Couch. He was just sitting there, when she recognized the determined look on his face.

Elle had seen this look on Chuck's face only once before. It was when they had lost their mother and decided to take care of themselves.

She knew this was going to be a long night. They needed to talk out their problems. It was time to start the healing process for both of them.

For hours they talked. They talked about losing Devon and how hard it was without him. They talked about the good times and all the fun times. About how they were going to remember him in their hearts.

It was about this time that Chuck mentioned that he had also lost Sarah. Elle had been in such a state, she had not noticed.

Elle was very distressed that she had not noticed Sarah had not been around. How could she have missed Sarah's disappearance, even if she was depressed.

Both were flowing tears, but Chuck had explained that he blamed her for not being there. That if Sarah had been there on time, none of this would have happened!

A strange calm came over Elle, causing Chuck to stop and look at her. It was at this point that he felt the full fury of Elle's anger.

"In all my years, this is the first time that I am ashamed of you Chuck! Do you really think this is all Sarah's fault? Do you not realize that if Sarah had been there, she might also have been killed? Is that what you wanted Chuck!"

"NO! You don't understand Elle. Of course I didn't want Sarah to have died instead of Devon! No one would have died."

"You, of all people, know how I think about this Chuck! Each of us has a destiny. As much as I loved Devon, I know that there was a reason he died that day. I have to have faith, that there was a reason for it all.

If not, then there is no reason to live. I see Death every day and I give it my all to save people, but some die no matter how hard I try. If I didn't believe that it is fate when I can't save them, I could not live with myself!"

"What has that got to do with this? I don't see ..."

"Chuck! I have always believed that there is a greater good as well as evil. There is a reason that things happen to us, but we have to keep faith that it will work out in the end. I know Devon would not be happy if we just gave up." Elle says before Chuck could finish his sentence.

Elle, stops and thinks about what she had just said. That Devon would not be happy with her if she just quit on life.

Devon was the one that always lived life to its fullest. She smiled thinking about how he did all of these crazy stunts, like class 5 rapids. It was a wonder that he had not died doing one of his extreme sports.

"Chuck, you need to remember that Devon was always pushing life to the edge. It was his destiny to save your and my life that day. Maybe it was Fates way of saving Sarah."

Not being one to give much thought to this type of philosophy, Chuck considered his sisters words. She was strong because of the way she felt. Maybe she was on to something beyond his understanding.

"I believed, from the first time I saw you with Sarah, that you two were destined to be together. I am ashamed that you would just throw it away, because you think that a single person could have fought off fifteen or sixteen bikers! I don't care if she was Batman, she would have probably died as well."

For the first time since the fight, Chuck understood he was being stupid. As good as Sarah was, even she would have not been able to handle all of those bikers probably.

"If you don't try to right your stupid mistake with Sarah, I don't know if I can forgive you Chuck. I know Devon would be disappointed in you as well! Don't tarnish Devon's memory with what you did to Sarah."

"But what can I do now Elle? Sarah is gone and I don't know where she went?"

"You do whatever you have to! I will be fine. I think it is time I started living my life again as well."

"I am afraid to leave you Elle. I don't know if I can do it."

"Chuck, it is time you grew up. You need to quit worrying about what may happen and start worrying about what will not happen if you don't!

I am a big girl and can take care of myself. If you don't go after Sarah, I do know that you will never been able to get over it Chuck. To be honest, I may not be able to forgive you either! We Bartowski's are not quitters and we clean up our messes, no matter how hard it may be!"

"You know I love you so much Elle. I don't know how long it will take, but I will at least try to make it right."

"Bring her back home Chuck and Don't give up."

Elle and Chuck hug for several minutes and wipe the tears from their eyes, when they release each other.

Chuck stands up and walks to his room. He starts packing, not knowing where he may end up.

There is a determination in him that has never been there before.

He has come to a peaceful resolution with his internal daemons. His parents, Bryce, Jill and all of the hardships that he has used for excuses are gone.

After packing, Chuck decides to get some sleep. It is going to be a long day tomorrow. He would have to talk to Casey and that was not going to be easy.

His last thoughts were of Sarah, before he dozed off to sleep.

Little did he know Casey was already trying to find out where Sarah had gone. Casey was going to point Chuck in the right direction and let him work it out. Chuck was finally going to "Man Up", and he was going to help him.

Team Bartowski may have a chance after all or at least Casey was going to give it one last shot.


	4. Connect to the place we are

_**Author's note: **_I wrote this story to the music "Don't give UP" by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. _This was done quickly and will probably need a rewrite_. If you want to fix it up, be my guest. )

_**BTW, most of the Chuck fanfic authors are at Fanfiction:**____**/forum/TWoPKickedUsOutButWeStillLoveChuck/49974/**___

_**Disclaimer**_: I don't own _Chuck_. All of the characters belong to whomever. I own the plot and theme in this story though. Enjoy it I hope! )

--

It has been several weeks now and Bartowski still has not come to me asking about Sarah. I have been trying to track her down but it has been very difficult.

It was easier to track down Bryce than it is to catch up with Walker. I had managed to track him to Portland. I flew there and had a "Heart to Heart" with him.

I left him mostly intact, but he will be pissing blood for a few weeks. A little reminder of how much I appreciate him trying to put the moves on Walker.

Bryce had given me some places to look and a bit of background on what to look for. It wasn't much but I am not know for quitting.

I hate to admit it but the information that Bryce provided helped. I was able to find where Sarah had been a few weeks ago. She had been in Louisville for a few days, then checked out.

She has fallen off the grid again, but I have refined my search pattern now. It was just a matter of time before I found her. I just hope it is not too late.

It is still is hard for me to understand how I let him under my skin, but then again I had thought there were no more genuine people left in the world. If anything Chuck was genuine and always putting others before himself.

Chuck has been flip flopping between focused and depressed. It is like watching a rubber ball from day to day. He has become dysfunctional for the intersect and the higher ups are not pleased at all.

Their original idea of reassigning an Agent if they fell for an asset was proving very wrong. It was now clear that the attachment was beneficial to the team. It was becoming clear that Chuck was useless for anyone in this state.

Beckman and Graham had given Casey full control over what to do about the entire situation. Casey had convinced them that he had a plan, but it would take time. They had even agreed to a real relationship between Chuck and Sarah, after witnessing what had happened to the intersect.

Big Mike has also noticed and is at the end of his rope with Chuck. It looks like he may put someone else in charge of the Nerd Herders.

It is a late night again and finally Chuck has fallen asleep. I want to help him, but his pride or something is holding him back.

He must come to me before I can help him. It has to be his decision to ask for my help. Any other way could cause this whole thing to blow up.

That reminds me, I need to get a case of Eagles Rare tomorrow. This is really cutting into my budget. I guess we will see if it was worth it in the long run.

--

Chuck is tossing and turning in his bed. Suddenly he bolts straight up and looks at his packed bags as if they were taunting him again.

He reaches up and grabs his hair, wanting to pull on it till answers came out of his head. He is no closer to finding Sarah than he was several weeks ago.

At first, he was going to ask for Casey's help. After waking up the next morning several weeks back, he had decided that Casey may try and stop him from finding Sarah.

Chuck had decided to find her on his own. Surly she would leave some kind of tracks or at least her car would. After all, how may black Porsche could there be out there? To his amazement, a lot more than he had thought possible.

Searching the internet for any type of tell tell signs of Sarah, there were a lot of hits for information. There was so much data to go over, but Chuck was using every bit of information that he could remember to refine his search for her.

Chuck had actually build an advance spider search engine. It was combing hotel records, DMV records, airline ticketing systems, as well as a hundred other types of sites.

The complexity was enormous, but he was driven to build it as there was no other tool to use. It was a work of art; as it uses a little known technique to get around cgi scripts and thereby to get to the lower levels of hidden data.

It was simple to create actually. All you need to do was go to some of the phracking sites and pull down already provided programs and modify them. The hard part was already done usually.

His thoughts turned to Elle and how she was starting to show signs of recovery. She was cooking a few days a week now. Elle would even sit with him and watch a movie or two on occasion.

Chuck knew there was still a long ways to go for her, but at least Elle was coping now. There is still a great sadness there, but her zest for life was not broken. That brought him back to Sarah.

Wondering if Sarah's eyes held the same sparkle for someone else now or if she was thinking of him. Chuck could only hope the she wanted to see him again.

If not, it would be all his fault. He had taken his insecurity about Bryce and let it blind him.

Still, it hurt to know that Bryce could get Sarah to drop everything when he called.

Chuck pushed that thought from his mind, otherwise it would drive him into a deep depression that there would be no escape from this time.

Time was running out and Chuck knew he would not be able to hold together much longer. Right then Chuck promised himself, _if he could not find anything solid in the next two weeks, he would go to Casey, no matter what may happen_.

With a conclusive decision made, a calming effect came over him. Chuck laid back down and began to sleep soundly for the first time in months.

--

It had been months now since Sarah had left Team Bartowski and she had never felt so depressed in all her life.

She had felt that getting away would help her distance herself from the pain, but it had not. If anything, she felt like a large part of her was missing.

Even the many different growls from Casey were stuck in her head. Every time she would do something that she knew Casey hated, she would mentally put a growl to the deed.

Sarah had finally just left one day without telling the CIA where she was going. She dropped off the grid about two months after leaving Team Chuck.

She was tired of it all and wanted nothing more to do with anyone or anything, especially the CIA.

One day Sarah was walking down the street in Louisville and spotted a tall man with curly brown hair across the street from her. She did a double take and then started running after him.

Two blocks later, she spotted him enter a Starbucks coffee shop. Not wanting to lose him, Sarah entered and grabbed the man's arm.

He turned around to face her and it was not her Chuck. "Excuse me, I though you were someone else," Sarah sadly stated, before she turned and walked back out the door.

That day she went back to her hotel, packed all of her things and just left. Not even knowing where she was going to go. She just got into her car and drove down the highway.

Hours later she stopped at a bed and breakfast for the night. Sarah was not even sure where she was, but she was too tired to care.

Going straight to her room, Sarah was a bit nervous to go to sleep. She knew that the same dream would come to her as it had for the last several months.

What she would give to just see Chuck and stare into his eyes. It hurt to think of him and what a single simple mistake can do to a persons life.

All her instincts are telling her to forget her pride and go back to LA. But Sarah's mind tells her to just forget it and take the loss. There was nothing to be gained by going back there any more.

Tomorrow would be another day. Maybe she would be able to put this all behind her, but she knew deep down there was no chance of that.

Chuck was better off without her. Maybe she would call Casey just to check up on him. Maybe she would, but she would have to see how the night goes.

Maybe was better than not at all, but she was so tired of working so hard to forget.

Love has a way of sneaking into the mirrors of the eyes and all she wanted to do was look into Chuck's eyes. Just to see if the light and the heat was still in his eyes for her.

**Note:** The more reviews that I get the faster I update. )


	5. Place where we belong

_**Author's note: **_I wrote this story to the music "Don't give UP" by Peter Gabriel and Kate Bush. _This was done quickly and will probably need a rewrite_. If you want to fix it up, be my guest. )

Again, I would like to give special Thanks to GCG for her help with the Beta. Any new problems are of my own stupidity. )

_**BTW, most of the Chuck fanfic authors are at Fanfiction:**__**/forum/TWoPKickedUsOutButWeStillLoveChuck/49974/**_

_**Disclaimer**_: I don't own _Chuck_. All of the characters belong to whomever. I own the plot and theme in this story though. Enjoy it I hope! )

--

It has been a few more weeks and everyone was getting on each others nerves. Chuck and Casey were trying to stay away from each other, as much as possible. Casey made himself scarce, mainly to keep for strangling Chuck.

Chuck was not sleeping and it was keeping Casey up as well. If it were not for Elle and Chuck talking, Casey was sure that Chuck would have cracked by now.

Chuck had finally come to Casey asking for his help. Between the both of them they had been able to find Sarah's trail a few times.

The problem was that as soon as they had found it, Sarah had already moved on. She was not staying anywhere more than a few weeks.

Casey had to admit, Sarah was one of the best he had ever seen for keeping hidden. Bryce was an amateur compared to Sarah.

What they had going for them was Sarah was getting sloppy. It was almost as if she did not care any more.

They had discovered that she had changed her name to Lindsey. She had also parked her car in a storage unit. This made it a bit more difficult to track her.

It had been Chuck's idea to start tracking gas station records in accordance with any black Porsche's in the suspected areas. This had given them the clues to Sarah/Lindsey's pattern.

The fact was, there was no real pattern for most of the time. Lately it looked like she was heading south. It was quite probable that Sarah/Lindsey was heading to South America.

It would be easy for her to get lost there. Plus she would be able to live there without needing much money.

It was on a Saturday when Casey caught a break. One of his fellow NSA agents had spotted her boarding a plane to Chile.

Casey had instructed the Agent to follow here on the next flight and keep a very low profile.

The one thing that bothered Casey was the agents description of Sarah. He had mentioned that she looked very unkept. That her personal appearance was not of the stunning beauty that was listed on the APB.

The agent had almost missed Sarah, her appearance was so different. Casey started to get the reason why she had been so sloppy covering her tracks lately.

Casey was preparing for this daily meeting with Chuck, when there was a knock on the door. He opened the door to find that it was Chuck as expected.

Chuck was even more depressed than usual, so Casey was going to let him in on the information about Sarah.

As soon as Casey had revealed that Sarah was spotted heading for Chile, Chuck went flying out of his apartment.

He went straight to his room and got his packed bag out of the corner were it had been for quite some time now.

Casey was about to go after Chuck when Elle came home. He would have to wait for her to leave before he could talk to Chuck now.

Elle stepped through the door to hear a ruckus in Chucks room. She braced herself, expecting that Chuck was having a breakdown.

As she opened the door, Chuck came out of the bathroom with his shaving kit to put into the packed bag on his bed.

Elle knew instantly that he most have gotten some new about Sarah. As much as she wanted him to stay with her, Elle knew that Chuck had to go try to get Sarah back.

"I guess you found out where Sarah is?"

"She is on a plane to Chile. I am going to go after here Elle. I am sorry."

"Don't be Chuck! I know how important it is to you. I miss her myself. I want you to promise me that you will be careful. It is not like here in the US."

"I promise to be careful. You know I love you right? But I have got to do this or I will go crazy Sis."

"I know you love me and I love you. Trust your instincts and you should be fine. I will be here waiting for you when you get back."

They hug and Chuck logs onto the internet to buy tickets to Chile. Within a few minutes he has his ticket and is heading out the door. He doesn't have much time to get to the LA airport before the flight leaves.

Elle drives him to the airport and walks him to his gate. Neither of them notice that Casey is watching from the shadows.

Chuck did not think ahead or that Casey would need to be with him. After all he is still the intersect.

After a hug, Chuck proceeds through security and to the plane. He boards without any problem. It is several hours later when he lands in Chile.

All Chuck knew was that Sarah was in Vina Del Mar, which was north of Santiago. He had not realized that it was such a large place.

Chuck reached into his pocket and tried to use his cell phone. He did not have service.

He hailed a cab to take him to a hotel by the beach. Chuck picked Holiday Motel as it looked clean and cheap.

Paying for the week in advance to get a price break. While unpacking his cloths, he tried to call Casey, but there was no answer.

Chuck was not aware that the reason he could not get Casey was due to him being right down the hallway.

Casey was there to observe and protect if he needed to. The rest was up to Chuck, but Casey was sure Chuck would screw it up somehow.

--

When Sarah had arrived, she went straight to a villa in Vina Del Mar. It overlooked the beach as she had requested.

Here she was going by Lindsey. The first thing she did was change her hair color to brown again. She had been changing the color every month to further change her looks.

She had figured that this was about as far from Chuck as she could get. Maybe she would get over him here.

Feeling very tired from the plane right Sarah laid down and went to sleep. She was expecting to have the same nightmare, but this time her dream was different.

Sarah woke up refreshed and better. She was looking out over a mountain range from the other side of the Villa. Her bedroom looked to towards the mountains, while the windows off the living room looked over the beach.

For some reason her dream included Chuck and those mountains. It was as if a spark of hope were revealed in her dreams. She shook it off as being nothing and went about unpacking her cloths.

She had been there for several days now and it had rained a few times. Sarah had not made it to the beach yet, but she wanted to.

The problem was that it was Chucks favorite thing to do when he was troubled. It may bring back too many strong memories and that was what she was trying to avoid.

When she was in the middle of her second week, Sarah started to have nightmares but not of that faithful day. It was of Chuck homeless on the street somewhere.

She knew that could not be true, after all he was still the intersect. It had been months, but still he had Elle.

Maybe it was time to call Casey. She was far away and it could not hurt to clear her mind.

--

Chuck had been here for over a week now and still had not found Sarah. His calls to Casey were never returned either.

He chalked it up to leaving without discussing it with Casey. He should have known better, but he was not thinking clearly that night.

Apologizing for the millionth time, Chuck hung up the phone call to Casey again. He needed Casey to help him find Sarah.

Chuck had left a message for Elle, telling her that he was fine. That he was not sure how long he would be down in Chile as he had not found Sarah yet.

Again Chuck searched another section of the city, hoping that today would be the day he found her. Again he was disappointed as it had gotten dark.

Needing a drink, Chuck entered a bar on his way back to his hotel. He had a quite a few drinks before he decided to head back to his hotel.

Half way back, two men came up behind Chuck and robbed him of his money and shoes. They beat him up a bit and took off.

By the time Chuck got back to the hotel, it was very late. As he opened the door, he could tell that someone has been in his room.

All of his stuff had been taken, except for a few cloths. He was not without his money, ID or Passport. Chuck laid down in bed and went to sleep. He would deal with it tomorrow.

The next morning a maid knocked on the door. waking Chuck up. He got up and went to the desk to report the incident.

Since Chuck had not paid for the second week in advance, he now had no way of paying. The man at the front desk apologized but had to throw Chuck out.

Now without money or a way to get any, Chuck headed to the American Embassy for help. They could not help him except to tell him it would take a few weeks to get him a replacement passport.

Little did Chuck know that Casey was at his old hotel. Casey could not help because he did not want Chuck to know he was there all the time.

Besides, Casey thought that this will help toughen Chuck up some. Next time Chuck will not go running off before planning better.

Walking around with no where to live and no way to get money, Chuck was walking decided to keep searching for Sarah. Half way though the search, it started raining again; drenching Chuck from the heavy rain.

Casey was not far away, but he was still unwilling to help Chuck just yet. A few more days of this and it would be time to intervene.

Chuck was like all of the other homeless. He was dirty, broke, hungry and trying to find the woman he loved. But he realized that he was no longer depressed, there was hope now.

--

Sarah had woke up the next day with a bad feeling. She could not get over the feeling that something had happened to Chuck.

She had called Casey last night, but had only gotten his answering machine. Sarah picked up the phone and dialed Casey again.

After ringing for several minutes, Casey finally answered.

"Casey here", he responded.

"Where have you been? I tried to get in touch with you last night."

"And hello to you too Walker. I would say Agent Walker, but it seems that you are AWOL."

Startled by that, Sarah took a few seconds before she spoke again. "Sorry Casey, I was a bit worried. How are you doing."

"I am doing fine. Sun, sanding, baby sitting the intersect."

Sarah got a bit upset when Casey talked about Chuck as the intersect. That was something their bosses would do, not what Casey normally did.

Holding her temper she asked, "How is CHUCK doing. Does he like his new handler?"

"He never got another CIA handler, seems that he has not had a flash since you left. As a matter of fact, he has been pretty much useless."

Now thinking the worse,"They are not going to terminate him are they? I am sure that Elle will bring him back around."

"Well since your not my partner any more, I cannot tell you anything. What I can tell you is that Chuck is not doing well. I need to go Walker. I will call you again when I have the time. Then again you can call me back in a day or two. I have to take care of a situation at the moment." Not wanting to give up what is happening just yet. Casey hung up the phone without letting Sarah say anything else.

Casey knew that she still cared for Chuck and this would push her to decide. He would give her a few days to stew over what he said. Now was do or die for Chuck and Sarah.

It had now been six months since all Hell had broken lose. It had destroyed many lives and now was the time to try and put them back together. That is if it could be done.

Sarah was pacing back and forth after talking to Casey. It had not calmed her down at all. If anything, it had made her more nervous.

Dreading the next call, Sarah did what she had to do. With her hands shaking, she called Elle.

"Hi, Elle speaking."

"Hi Elle, this is Sarah." Sarah was fighting to keep from crying. There was a heavy guilt from not being there to help them.

"Sarah! OMG, I have been hoping that you would call. Are you alright?"

With her voice about to crack from the emotion, "I am fine Elle. I just want to apologize again for your loss. I should have been there in your time of need."

"Sarah, it was not your fault. I have already explained this to Chuck. Now you listen to me as well. There was nothing you could have done. If anything you could have ended up dying as well."

"But I could have saved him Elle. If I had just ..." But Elle cut Sarah off.

"Stop thinking that way! It was destine to end that way. There were too many of them and if not for Devon helping, I would have been dead. If I had just stayed in the restaurant, Devon would have been alive, but Chuck would probably have died. It all happens for a reason, we just don't get to understand why."

"I appreciate what your saying Elle. I just hope that you and Chuck can forgive me. By the way is Chuck there?"

"There is nothing to forgive Sarah! Chuck and I talked this out several weeks ago. He has been looking for you ever since."

"He has? Can I talk to him please?"

"He left a few weeks ago looking for you. I have not heard back from him in a few days. Give me your number and I will have him call you when I hear from him."

"Sure, but do you know where he went looking for me? I have not seen him yet."

"Well, he build some application and the last I we talked he was in Chile. I don't know why he thought you were there, but are you there?"

Leave it to Chuck to use the internet to try and find her. Sarah smiled at that last thought. "Yes, Yes I am in Chile."

Sarah provided her phone number to Elle and was clearly much happier. Chuck had forgiven her and was looking for her. The problem now was how to find him.

Sarah had been searching the hotels for Chuck when she ran across his old hotel. They would not talk to her, so she had to go in person.

After a bribe and much flirting, she found out that he had been mugged then his room had been robbed.

She tried to contact Casey, but kept getting his voice mail. This was not good. not good at all.

Knowing that he had no place to go but the streets, Sarah started looking for Chuck among the homeless.

She had been searching for two days no stop. Overlooking a mountainous range from her Villa, a small figure stands deep in thought.

Stress for her fruitless searching had left her a mess. Her physical appearance proved how stressed out she was. Visibly showing slumped shoulders with unbrushed hair, clearly not normal for such a woman of class.

Looking at her face showing a deep frown. Dark blue eyes with dark circles under them, aging her looks to add to her unkept appearance.

The confidence that once exuded her persona was gone. She had always been taught to win. Losing had never been an option for her before, but her losses had taken a heavy toll on her. First failing her mission to protect Chuck and now to find him.

Somewhere out there was Chuck she hoped and darkness was falling for a third night. This was a tough town and it was possible that he was dead. The hope that she had after talking to Elle was gone now, replace with despair.

Where could Chuck be? Did Casey get the order? Did something happen to him while he was out on the streets? If he is still alive, were could he be?

--

As Sarah was in her Villa, only 5 blocks away was a scraggly think tall American.

Chuck was still searching for Sarah as well, even though he was hungry and his feet were covered with sores.

He had ripped up the sleeves from his shirt and wrapped them around his feet. Finding some worn out shoes in the dumpster that were too small for him but Chuck put them on anyway. The cloth around his feet could not protect him from the street or the shoes.

Chuck aimlessly walked over to a darken corner and sit down. Cloths are dusty and wrinkled making him look like any other bum on the streets.

His facial hair had grown out in a wild mountaineer style. Dull brown eyes and his worn out shoes added to his hobo look.

Chuck looks as bad as he feels. Having not eaten all day, the fatigue is getting to him.

Laying his head into his hands trying to fight off falling asleep, but losing the battle. His eyes drooping, closing against his wishes. His face looks twisted in agony as he starts to dream.

If Chuck had known that Casey was just a few doors down, he would be extremely upset. Then again, if he had know this is what it takes to get Sarah back, it would be worth this pain and more.

After sleeping all night, Chuck has all but given up on the search. He had a week more before he could get his Passport to go back.

Beaten, Chuck heads to the one place that makes him feel better. He heads to the beach. It takes him a while to get there in his condition, but he makes it.

A boy gives Chuck some food. He believes it is because he looks so bad, but in fact it was Casey that was providing the food for Chuck.

Casey would pay local people to provide Chuck food when possible. Not so often that he would notice, but enough so that he did not starve too much.

Casey knew now was the time. He had found Sarah a few days ago from the phone call. She looked as bad as Chuck almost.

--

Pulling out his cell phone, Casey made the call to Sarah. She picked up on the second ring.

"Were the Hell are you Casey? I know that Chuck is in Chile, so you have to be here somewhere."

"That was the problem that I needed to take care of Walker. He hopped on a plane without talking to me!" That was the truth to a point, Casey thought.

"Have you found him yet?"

"No, I just got here in Chile. It will be a bit before I get to you. Have you checked his usual habits Walker?" Trying to be subtle, prodding her into the right direction.

"No, this is Chile for crying out loud Casey! Actually, there is one place he may go to. Thanks Casey." Hanging up the phone, Sarah runs out the door.

Casey has a resemblance of a smile on his face. Now to set back and watch the fireworks. This had better work or he might as well resign.

Besides after all the things Chuck and Sarah have gone though, they deserve a break.

An hour has gone by now and Casey is starting to wonder if Sarah will ever get there. For crying out loud, how long does it take to search a beach.

Of course it is a pretty long beach, but Casey is starting to worry that Chuck may leave.

Just as Casey is about to curse again, he spots her jogging up the beach. She looks like crap and all sweaty. He can tell she is tired, even from this distance.

Freezing in mid stride, Casey can tell she spots Chuck. He looks like hell and probably feels it as well.

It takes her by surprise and she falls to her knees. Casey can see her whole body shaking from his position, willing her to get up.

"Don't fail me now Walker. You're so close, now get your ass up!" Casey says under his breath.

After a few minutes Sarah manages to get to her feet. She slowly walks over to Chuck. She gets herself under control before she reaches him.

Chuck is lying there on his back with his eyes closed. He is oblivious to the world at this point. Completely beaten and not caring if he does get pulled in by the local police.

Sarah walks till she is standing over him. She cannot believe how bad he looks. The remnants of a bruises fading from his face, cloths torn and ragged.

"You know that no bums are allowed on this beach!" Sarah says as she is smiling down at Chuck.

As if in a dream, Chuck hears the words but is afraid to open his eyes. Slowly he opens them anyway, to see the most beautiful site he could ever imagine.

There was Sarah, hair a mess, sweaty, bags under her eyes and cloths a mess. But to Chuck, she could not be any more beautiful if she were standing in her evening gown.

Chuck smiled and then without missing a beat he said,"Fancy meeting you here, but you know you look like crap."

Sarah smiled even bigger as there was her Chuck, cracking jokes. At least, it had better be a joke.

"Look who's talking Mr. Bo Jangles!" laughing as she sat down beside him.

Both looked each other in the eye, seeing that light and burning desire for each other still there.

For the first time in their sorted relationship, Chuck slowly sat up and pulled Sarah to him. He slowly moved to give Sarah a short but gentle kiss.

Thought it was short, it spoke volumes to both of them. There was a bond strong enough to get them through whatever was thrown at them.

"What say we head back to my place and get you cleaned up?"

"Are you trying to pick me up Miss?" Chuck said with a wink.

"You got a better offer?" Sarah smiled.

"Just checking. There could be no better offer to me." Chuck said as he slowly stood up.

It took them some time to get Chuck to a cab, because of his feet. Once at Sarah's Villa, she took care of his wounds.

They spent several days while Chuck recovered, talking and enjoying each others company.

Casey showed up a few times and proceeded to tell them how he was going to clean up the mess the two of them made. He told them to stay there till he had it all under control.

Little did they know he had already taken care of it. He had straightened out the issue with Sarah and the CIA. Gotten them to agree to their relationship several months ago and gotten an accommodation in the process. Not that Sarah or Chuck would ever know.

Sarah and Chuck spent the next two weeks talking and just enjoying each other. They had two weeks and they were not going to waste any more time.

Those talks included a lot of the personal details of Sarah's life as well as Chucks expectations for their future.

Both knew that they wanted to be together and actually spend the two weeks dating as people and not handler with asset.

It was near the end of the two week, Sarah and Chuck were walking along the beach. Both looked as everyone expected, like they were made for each other.

When they reached the spot where Sarah had found Chuck, he pretended to hurt his ankle.

As he was kneeling there rubbing his ankle with one hand, he slowly pulled out something with his other hand. He waited till Sarah looked away for a second then he used the opening to get to one knee.

When she looked down again, he grabbed her hand.

"Sarah, when I look into your eyes, all my instincts say you love me. I know that I can get so lost sometimes. But I love you and want to be with you always. Will you marry me?"

Chuck was terrified of her response, it was so soon after their getting back to each other.

Sarah stood there stunned. Not from the proposal, but more from how much she wanted the life he offered. It had taken a disastrous event for her to realize it and here it was for the taking.

There was only one thing that Sarah needed to do. She looked deep into Chucks eyes for that light and heat he had for her! It was still there and if nothing else seemed stronger than ever.

After what seemed like 5 minutes, Chuck was really starting to sweat it. "I don't mean to rush you, but a yes or no would be appreciated."

"I know we have plenty of problems Chuck, but YES!"

Chuck places the ring on her finger with a huge smile. "Glad that is over."

Sarah smacks him on the shoulder and give him a passionate kiss. Chuck grabs Sarah, throwing her over his shoulder. They go laughing into the ocean, playing Chuck sets her down in the shallow water.

After a few moments, they walk hand in hand down the beach. It was a perfect day in every way for them.

They don't know what the future will hold, but they know it will be together. It may not be much to some, but it is more than enough for Sarah and Chuck.

**NOTE:**

When looking for_** Love**_, you will always find it,**"**_**In Your Eyes **_and_** Don't give up EVER!**_**" **


End file.
